The Early Days of a Better Nation

Wednesday, November 02, 2011



Now available!

Earlier this year, world-famous economist Brad DeLong asked 'Why is there no ebook of Ken MacLeod's "The Restoration Game"? This offends the order of reality, somehow... '

The order of reality has now been saved by Barnes and Noble, so feel free to get on with the reality of ordering.

Elswhere, Solaris Rising: the New Solaris Book of Science Fiction, in which I have a short story titled 'The Best Science Fiction of the Year Three', has just been released, and is available on Amazon in the UK, the US, and Canada. There's already a favourable review at Locus Online (along with a likewise favourable review of Technology Review: Science Fiction.

(Pic and links via Richard Salter, a fellow contributor.)

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10 Comments:

Hi, Ken,
Not to kvetch, but as a certified Midwesterner, no yank would say "Fancy a coffee?/Fancy a glass of wine?" as the protagonist in "The Best Science Fiction of Year Three" did. "Fancy" isn't used that way here, and it would take most yanks a few seconds to figure out what was being asked.
Lee

Sorry :( I meant antagonist. :(

Ah! Good point - thanks. I guess we could assume he was talking Brit for politeness ... but nah, I just didn't know.

I think Lee overstates the case. A lot of Americans would understand what you were talking about. It's less certain they would actively use the phrase, but there is plenty of linguistic creep. People over here say things now they would not have said even 15 years ago because of movies, TV, etc. It's like saying a British/Irish/Indian...etc person would never adopt American slang either in general speech or in emphatic or parodic speech. To speak to Lee's midwestern-ness, I am guessing "want to come with?" was more confusing to "standard" Americans than "fancy a cup?," though both expressions have gotten more currency recently.

@ Privatiron,
All I can say to address your point is to repeat: most yanks would understand the unfamiliar phrase, but it would take a second or two to for them to process it. As to linguistic creep, maybe that holds for real yanks (New Englanders - yeah, we say that instead of New English), but in the Midwest most linguistic creep is from Spanish.

Who is this "linguistic creep," and how is he or she different from other creeps?

But, unfortunately, Barnes & Noble refuses to sell Ken's "The Restoration Game" to anyone outside of the US and Canada. Reality stinks.

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest (of the USA), and have used the "fancy a... " phrase for as long as I can remember. Of course it could have something to do with being raised on BBC productions borrowed from the library.

In any case, I enjoyed the story greatly. Looking forward to your next novel!

Still no UK ebooks :( But looks like the next one may be available in a non-dead tree format.

http://www.indiebound.org/google-ebookst

Nothing against B&N, but Google ebooks can be purchased thru local book stores. I suppose they may be doomed eventually, but show them some love.

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